January 20, 2009

The Case of Madeleine Smith by Rick Geary


The Case of Madeleine Smith by Rick Geary
A Treasury of Victorian Murder #8

Pages: unpaginated
First Published: 2006
Genre: graphic novel, true crime
Rating: 4/5

First sentence:

Monday 23 March 1857 at 2:30 AM, Mrs. Ann Jenkins is awakened by a furious pounding at the front door of her lodging house.


Comments: This next book in Rick Geary's fabulous series is no less supreme than the others. This time around we have a new-to-me case of Madeleine Smith who was put on trial for the poisoning death of her secret paramour. It is only because the man had kept over 190 letters from her that she became the suspect. Very interesting case. The poisoning murderess is always such a fun story to read.

Needless to say, Geary's b/w illustrations add to the story and the ambiance of Victorian times. I'm always fascinated with Victorian crime cases as it shows how policing was done when they only had the clues, early medical science, and their minds to solve a case. An interesting outcome to this case. The book definitely leaves me wanting to read Victorian crime and fortunately there is one more book in this series.

1 comment:

Beth F said...

I haven't read any of these. Nice review -- you got me interested: I like mysteries and I like historical fiction, so this may be a good pick for me.